Lane Assist

[Hawthorn37]

Lane Assist was included with my van, which I bought "blind" in order to avoid the order delays from VW direct. It's fine if you're on nice flat wide German roads but I found that on narrow twisty country roads it was like driving a blancmange; the system was always trying to correct as I was cresting the white line on a bend. So, I turned it off. The handling improved so much.

However, if I'm doing a lot of motorway driving I turn it back on - very good "nudge" if you get the nodding dog.

Agree - we only turn it on when on multi lane roads. It also ‘reads’ joins in the tarmac as road edges - so the cry is “But I AM driving in the centre” when the annoying warning happens. If this is the prelude to driverless cars, god help us all!!

 

[two-saabs]

Same as ours, it gets very excited and flashes up on the central display to drive in the middle, fine on the autobahn, but can get a bit annoying on the regular roads.

On the flip side, I did test it, empty road at night, hands slightly off the wheel and as it started drifting right on a left hand bend, it sensed and then pulled the wheel left and around the bend.
Don't really ever what to be in a situation where I/we have to rely on it, but good to know it's there should that ever happen. Personally I'd say a little annoyance is worth it.

It’s the false positives that will get to you, making everyone in the van jump out of their skin at random times. It’s not like it’s a little hint or a steering wheel shake, it freaks out!

My previous car was a Volvo built in 2018, that had an amazing drive assist, didn’t freak out, and only got confused when it was some motorway yellow lines over white lines situation. That’s 5 years older so I expected at least the same level of tech.

 

[WelshGas]

I have it on another car as standard kit, resets itself to 'on' automatically every engine start, and honestly I would pay good money to have it disabled if I could find someone with the necessary skills. Maybe useful on a m-way/autobahn if you begrudge the cost of a shot of coffee at the services, but on real roads with real road markings just a PITA.

(Sorry, wrong side of bed this morning... )

Carista may be able to disable it?

 

[two-saabs]

Whatever happened to driving with, due care and attention…

It’s a cost-option which is suppose to assist you, doesn’t take over anything, doesn’t mean you don’t pay attention, but should work.

 

[Hawthorn37]

It’s the false positives that will get to you, making everyone in the van jump out of their skin at random times. It’s not like it’s a little hint or a steering wheel shake, it freaks out!

My previous car was a Volvo built in 2018, that had an amazing drive assist, didn’t freak out, and only got confused when it was some motorway yellow lines over white lines situation. That’s 5 years older so I expected at least the same level of tech.

Agree - my XC40 is perfectly okay, and I don’t feel the need to switch off, apart from travelling through smaller roads or lanes. I don’t understand how tech goes backwards.

 

[Corradobrit]

but white and ascot grey make the van look great too.

Having seen it in the flesh at the factory I concur. Very classy

 

[dspuk]

After having this on my Tiguan for a few years I was comparing the two, and yes, the Cali one is rubbish, but after a drive down to Cornwall this weekend they are actually subtly different even if the spec sounds the same. On the Tiguan it keeps you actively in the centre. So reads the two lines and nudges you to centre. So much so you can let go of the steering for 30 seconds and it drives perfectly fine in the middle, even around bends. The Cali does not do this. Basically it’s up to you, when its on, to keep it perfectly centre. Sometimes too much perfection is expected hence the “drive in the middle” warnings. It seems to get upset if you drive too far left or right of middle for too long, even if you’re inside the whites. Also doesn’t always pickup the lines, which contributes to the erratic warnings. Other than that is the same deal, hit the white it vibrates and pushes you in, watches for overtaking, undertaking and blind spots. I end up switching off. The “drive in the middle” is too sensitive and gets annoying.

 

[BeeBee]

We don’t have it and most of the comments here would lead me to think “that’s a break”.
Sounds like you love lots about your van, especially the colour… why would you want to change it, after a year of having it you’ll just love it more …. the ‘23 plate’, that’s just a number !

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Love the lane assist, I can very rarely fault it. Long cruises just give you that extra level of reassurance.

The warnings for take a break or stay in the centre lane do appear from time to time. In fairness they appear when my driving has got a little lazy. Otherwise they stay off.

 

[Velma's Dad]

The “drive in the middle” is too sensitive and gets annoying.

I honestly can't get my head around why anyone needs a gadget to tell them to stay precisely in the lane centre. It's not always appropriate anyway eg I often ease towards the outside of my lane when overtaking trucks in a contraflow, where you can't see if there's a hazard like tyre debris on their nearside that might suddenly mean they need a tad more room.

If your driving is actually becoming erratic because you're nodding off then I can understand the nanny system giving you a wake-up call. But aside from that I'm struggling to see the road safety benefit of some always-on precision-lane-centring shouty thing.

It would make sense as a key element of a semi-automated driving system, eg to allow hands-off driving, but here we're talking about something that just tells you to stay in lane. Don't get that.

 

[mansaldo]

I had a 2014 Skoda Octavia with a lovely lane assistant. Buying my Cali I bought it again hoping that in 7 years technology is some steps forward instead it went back :-( very disappointed and nothing to do to emprove it. I can't say it's totally unuseful but for sure it is worst than before

 

[Peter84]

If they offer you a new van I would take that offer, it basically means you have a van free for one year (no depreciation)! Sounds too good to be true though

 

[Christine Kirk]

Yes we're all to be infantalised. Back in the day, this was everything a real driver needed:
View attachment 96219
(1930 Bugatti Type 53, 4 wheel drive, 300bhp, as raced at Monaco in 1934. Only optional extra would have been a cigarette lighter for chain-smoking Disques Bleus while wrestling with the four speed straight-cut gearbox. Lane Assist consisted of big arm muscles.)

no lane assist in the old car, come to think of it no power assist either, just a fun , involving, grin provoking experience! (Taken somewhere in the Highlands 2019)

 

[andyinluton]

no lane assist in the old car, come to think of it no power assist either, just a fun , involving, grin provoking experience! (Taken somewhere in the Highlands 2019)

What's that ? MGA?
Ive got lane assist on my other car its operated by a fairly large round thing conveniently placed in front of the driver. (unlike the speedo which is in front of the passenger)

 

[Velma's Dad]

For me Lane Assist consists of my nav screaming in my ear hole when I'm about to leave track limits.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Volvo’s lane assist is part of an overall collision reduction system, which works well. VWs system is the best argument I’ve found AGAINST self steer cars.

 

[dspuk]

I honestly can't get my head around why anyone needs a gadget to tell them to stay precisely in the lane centre. It's not always appropriate anyway eg I often ease towards the outside of my lane when overtaking trucks in a contraflow, where you can't see if there's a hazard like tyre debris on their nearside that might suddenly mean they need a tad more room.

If your driving is actually becoming erratic because you're nodding off then I can understand the nanny system giving you a wake-up call. But aside from that I'm struggling to see the road safety benefit of some always-on precision-lane-centring shouty thing.

It would make sense as a key element of a semi-automated driving system, eg to allow hands-off driving, but here we're talking about something that just tells you to stay in lane. Don't get that.

I agree and why I'd prefer if the system was granular enough to allow me to turn off just that aspect and leave on the main side assist elements. Unfortunately it's not so it is all or nothing.

 

[two-saabs]

I honestly can't get my head around why anyone needs a gadget to tell them to stay precisely in the lane centre. It's not always appropriate anyway eg I often ease towards the outside of my lane when overtaking trucks in a contraflow, where you can't see if there's a hazard like tyre debris on their nearside that might suddenly mean they need a tad more room.

If your driving is actually becoming erratic because you're nodding off then I can understand the nanny system giving you a wake-up call. But aside from that I'm struggling to see the road safety benefit of some always-on precision-lane-centring shouty thing.

It would make sense as a key element of a semi-automated driving system, eg to allow hands-off driving, but here we're talking about something that just tells you to stay in lane. Don't get that.

I think you’ve hit the point: it’s not supposed to just be an over-precise beeping thingy; it’s supposed to be part of an overall system which is a step towards a fully autonomous vehicle.

That’s what some of us have had in other vehicles (like Volvo’s Pilot Assist classified as Level 2 autonomy according to SAE.org), and we expected the same or better from VW.

 

[two-saabs]

I agree and why I'd prefer if the system was granular enough to allow me to turn off just that aspect and leave on the main side assist elements. Unfortunately it's not so it is all or nothing.

Which bits do you mean?

I have Lane Assist switched off all the time, but keep Side Assist switched on (the blinkers in the wing mirrors)

 

[dspuk]

Which bits do you mean?

I have Lane Assist switched off all the time, but keep Side Assist switched on (the blinkers in the wing mirrors)

AFAIK the wing mirror blind spot indicators are always on. Switching off side assist stops the system vibrating when you go over the line without indicating, if someone is in your blindspot or if there is an undertake incident. I’m on the road tomorrow so will test it out.

 

[Christine Kirk]

What's that ? MGA?
Ive got lane assist on my other car its operated by a fairly large round thing conveniently placed in front of the driver. (unlike the speedo which is in front of the passenger) View attachment 96525

Yes it's a 1600Mk11

 

[s2bear]

The good thing is I’ve got used to turning it on and off frequently and it’s not too much of a faff with three thumb presses - when you hit the assist button on the left the default/first item on the list is steering assist (no scrolling).

LEFT (assist), RIGHT (ok), LEFT (assist)
No searching or scrolling whilst you’re driving.

I leave it on for motorway but it gets a bit tedious when you hit the back roads.

I’d never have ordered this myself but you know, we all get tired at times so it’s nice to have that extra peace of mind when you’re making an espresso in Lane 2 although I do think the brake assist could be more progressive - I spilt the milk yesterday. No use crying over it I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[StevoC]

Yes, from factory it only works from 60-65 kmh.

Took awhile to figure it out, so all is OK with my Lane Assist
Thanks.